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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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NASA NTRS1999

Dan Goldin Presentation: Pathway to the Future

In the "Path to the Future" presentation held at NASA's Langley Center on March 31, 1999, NASA's Administrator Daniel S. Goldin outlined the future direction and strategies of NASA in relation to the general space exploration enterprise. NASA's Vision, Future System Characteristics, Evolutions of Engineering, and Revolutionary Changes are the four main topics of the presentation. In part one, the Administrator talks in detail about NASA's vision in relation to the NASA Strategic Activities that are Space Science, Earth Science, Human Exploration, and Aeronautics & Space Transportation. Topics discussed in this section include: space science for the 21st century, flying in mars atmosphere (mars plane), exploring new worlds, interplanetary internets, earth observation and measurements, distributed information-system-in-the-sky, science enabling understanding and application, space station, microgravity, science and exploration strategies, human mars mission, advance space transportation program, general aviation revitalization, and reusable launch vehicles. In part two, he briefly talks about the future system characteristics. He discusses major system characteristics like resiliencey, self-sufficiency, high distribution, ultra-efficiency, and autonomy and the necessity to overcome any distance, time, and extreme environment barriers. Part three of Mr. Goldin's talk deals with engineering evolution, mainly evolution in the Computer Aided Design (CAD)/Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) systems. These systems include computer aided drafting, computerized solid models, virtual product development (VPD) systems, networked VPD systems, and knowledge enriched networked VPD systems. In part four, the last part, the Administrator talks about the need for revolutionary changes in communication and networking areas of a system. According to the administrator, the four major areas that need cultural changes in the creativity process are human-centered computing, an infrastructure for distributed collaboration, rapid synthesis and simulation tools, and life-cycle integration and validation. Mr. Goldin concludes his presentation with the following maxim "Collaborate, Integrate, Innovate or Stagnate and Evaporate." He also answers some questions after the presentation.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2001

Optimal Orbit Design for the Magnetospheric Imaging Constellation

The Magnetospheric Imaging Constellation (MagIC) is a NASA space science concept to study the Earth's Magnetosphere. The concept proposes to apply tomography techniques using an array of spacecraft to obtain three dimensional images of the Earth's magnetosphere. This paper presents an optimal orbit design to ensure that the constellation is in the desired region of the magnetosphere for maximum time. The solution is found using a steepest descent optimization algorithm that takes into account perturbations from the non-spherical Earth, drag, Sun, Moon and other significant bodies. The solution also satisfies constraints on maximum eclipse duration and geometry constraints to allow an adequate GPS navigation solution. We present three solutions depending upon the epoch of the primary science: vernal equinox, summer solstice, and a third midway between the vernal equinox and summer solstice. Orbit insertion is also considered. All spacecraft are assumed to be launched on a single vehicle into a nominal orbit and the (Delta)V's to achieve the nominal orbit are presented. After insertion into the nominal orbit, each spacecraft undergoes a phasing maneuver to place it in the appropriate position with respect to the rest of the constellation. We present a minimum fuel approach to maneuver each spacecraft from the nominal orbit into the desired final orbit.

Hughes, Steven P.↗

NASA NTRS2000

HALOE Algorithm Improvements for Upper Tropospheric Soundings

This report details the ongoing efforts by GATS, Inc., in conjunction with Hampton University and University of Wyoming, in NASA's Mission to Planet Earth UARS Science Investigator Program entitled "HALOE Algorithm Improvements for Upper Tropospheric Sounding." The goal of this effort is to develop and implement major inversion and processing improvements that will extend HALOE measurements further into the troposphere. In particular, O3, H2O, and CH4 retrievals may be extended into the middle troposphere, and NO, HCl and possibly HF into the upper troposphere. Key areas of research being carried out to accomplish this include: pointing/tracking analysis; cloud identification and modeling; simultaneous multichannel retrieval capability; forward model improvements; high vertical-resolution gas filter channel retrievals; a refined temperature retrieval; robust error analyses; long-term trend reliability studies; and data validation. The current (first year) effort concentrates on the pointer/tracker correction algorithms, cloud filtering and validation, and multichannel retrieval development. However, these areas are all highly coupled, so progress in one area benefits from and sometimes depends on work in others.

Thompson, Robert E.↗

NASA NTRS2001

HALOE Algorithm Improvements for Upper Tropospheric Sounding

Thompson, Robert E.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Cold Weather Wind Turbines: A Joint NASA/NSF/DOE Effort in Technology Transfer and Commercialization

Renewable energy sources and their integration with other power sources to support remote communities is of interest for Mars applications as well as Earth communities. The National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA, and the Department of Energy (DOE) have been jointly supporting development of a 100 kW cold weather wind turbine through grants and SBIRs independently managed by each agency but coordinated by NASA. The NSF grant addressed issues associated with the South Pole application and a 3 kW direct drive unit is being tested there in anticipation of the 100 kW unit operation. The DOE-NREL contract focused on development of the 100 kW direct drive generator. The NASA SBIR focused on the development of the 100 kW direct drive wind turbine. The success of this effort has required coordination and team involvement of federal agencies and the industrial partners. Designs of the wind turbine and component performance testing results will be presented. Plans for field testing of wind turbines, based on this design, in village energy systems in Alaska and in energy production at the South Pole Station will be discussed. Also included will be a discussion of terrestrial and space use of hybrid energy systems, including renewable energy sources, such as the wind turbine, to support remote communities.

Flynn, Michael↗

NASA NTRS2005

Global monitoring of Sea Surface Salinity with Aquarius

Aquarius is a microwave remote sensing system designed to obtain global maps of the surface salinity field of the oceans from space. It will be flown on the Aquarius/SAC-D mission, a partnership between the USA (NASA) and Argentina (CONAE) with launch scheduled for late in 2008. The objective of Aquarius is to monitor the seasonal and interannual variation of the large scale features of the surface salinity field in the open ocean. This will provide data to address scientific questions associated with ocean circulation and its impact on climate. For example, salinity is needed to understand the large scale thermohaline circulation, driven by buoyancy, which moves large masses of water and heat around the globe. Of the two variables that determine buoyancy (salinity and temperature), temperature is already being monitored. Salinity is the missing variable needed to understand this circulation. Salinity also has an important role in energy exchange between the ocean and atmosphere, for example in the development of fresh water lenses (buoyant water that forms stable layers and insulates water below from the atmosphere) which alter the air-sea coupling. Aquarius is a combination radiometer and scatterometer (radar) operating at L-band (1.413 GHz for the radiometer and 1.26 GHz for the scatterometer). The primary instrument,for measuring salinity is the radiometer which is able to detect salinity because of the modulation salinity produces on the thermal emission from sea water. This change is detectable at the long wavelength end of the microwave spectrum. The scatterometer will provide a correction for surface roughness (waves) which is one of the greatest unknowns in the retrieval. The sensor will be in a sun-synchronous orbit at about 650 km with equatorial crossings of 6am/6pm. The antenna for these two instruments is a 3 meter offset fed reflector with three feeds arranged in pushbroom fashion looking away from the sun toward the shadow side of the orbit to minimize sunglint. The mission goal is to produce maps of the salinity field globally once each month with an accuracy of 0.2 psu and a spatial resolution of 100 km. This will be adequate to address l&ge scale features of the salinity field of the open ocean. The temporal resolution is sufficient to address seasonal changes and a three year mission is planned to-collect sufficient data to look for interannual variation. Aquarius is being developed by NASA as part of the Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program. The SAC-D mission is being developed by CONAE and will include the space craft and several additional instruments, including visible and infrared cameras and a microwave radiometer to monitor rain and wind velocity over the oceans, and sea ice.

Lagerloef, G. S. E.↗

NASA NTRS2005

An Agent-Based Interface to Terrestrial Ecological Forecasting

The latest generation of NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites has brought a new dimension to continuous monitoring of the living part of the Earth System, the biosphere. EOS data can now provide weekly global measures of vegetation productivity and ocean chlorophyll, and many related biophysical factors such as land cover changes or snowmelt rates. However, the highest economic value would come from forecasting impending conditions of the biosphere, to allow decision makers to mitigate dangers or exploit positive trends. NASA's strategic plan for the Earth Science Enterprise i d e n a s ecological forecasting as a focus for research. Ecological forecasting predicts the effects of changes in the physical, chemical and biological environment on ecosystem activity. Possible applications of such a system include predicting shortfalls or bumper crops of agricultural production, populations of threatened or invasive species or wildfire danger in time to allow improves preparation and logistical efficiency. Petabytes of remote sensing data are now available to help measure, understand and forecast changes in the Earth system, but using these data effectively can be surprisingly hard. The volume and variety of data files and formats are daunting. Simple data management activities, such as locating and transferring files, changing file formats, gridding point data, and scaling and reprojecting gridded data, can consume far more personnel time and resources than the actual data analysis. Some scientists commit to a particular data source or resolution just because using anything different would be more effort that it's worth. Better tools can help, but most of the tools developed to date are little more than shell scripts; they lack the flexibility to meet the diverse needs of users and are difficult to extend to handle changes in available data sources.

Golden, Keith↗

NASA NTRS2004

The HYDROS mission: requirements and baseline system design

The HYDROS mission is under development by NASA as part of its Earth System Science Pathfinder program. HYDROS is designed to provide global maps of the Earth's soil moisture and freeze/thaw state every 2-3 days, for weather and climate prediction, water and carbon cycle studies, natural hazards monitoring, and national security applications.

radar↗

NASA NTRS2003

The HYDROS Mission: Requirements and Baseline System Design

The HYDROS mission is under development by NASA as part of its Earth System Science Pathfinder (ESSP) program. HYDROS is designed to provide global maps of the Earth's soil moisture and freezel/thaw state every 2-3 days, for weather and climate prediction, water and carbon cycle studies, natural hazards monitoring, and national security applications. HYDROS uses a unique active and passive L-band microwave system that optimizes measurement accuracy, spatial resolution, and coverage. It provides measurements in nearly all weather conditions, regardless of solar illumination. The designs of the radar and radiometer electronics, antenna feedhorn and reflector, and science data system, are driven by specific mission and science objectives. These objectives impose requirements on the frequencies, polarizations, sampling, spatial resolution, and accuracy of the system. In this paper we describe the HYDROS mission requirements, baseline design, and measurement capabilities.

soil moisture↗

NASA NTRS2008

Development of a NASA Integrated Technical Workforce Career Development Model Entitled Requisite Occupation Competencies and Knowledge -- the ROCK

This paper shares the findings of NASA's Integrated Learning and Development Program (ILDP) in its effort to reinvigorate the HANDS-ON practice of space systems engineering and project/program management through focused coursework, training opportunities, on-the job learning and special assignments. Prior to March 2005, NASA responsibility for technical workforce development (the program/project manager, systems engineering, discipline engineering, discipline engineering and associated communities) was executed by two parallel organizations. In March 2005 these organizations merged. The resulting program-ILDP-was chartered to implement an integrated competency-based development model capable of enhancing NASA's technical workforce performance as they face the complex challenges of Earth science, space science, aeronautics and human spaceflight missions. Results developed in collaboration with NASA Field Centers are reported on. This work led to definition of the agency's first integrated technical workforce development model known as the Requisite Occupation Competence and Knowledge (the ROCK). Critical processes and products are presented including: 'validation' techniques to guide model development, the Design-A-CUrriculuM (DACUM) process, and creation of the agency's first systems engineering body-of-knowledge. Findings were validated via nine focus groups from industry and government, validated with over 17 space-related organizations, at an estimated cost exceeding $300,000 (US). Masters-level programs and training programs have evolved to address the needs of these practitioner communities based upon these results. The ROCK reintroduced rigor and depth to the practitioner's development in these critical disciplines enabling their ability to take mission concepts from imagination to reality.

Menrad, Robert J.↗

NASA NTRS2011

High Speed, Multi-Channel, Thermal Instrument Development in Support of HyspIRI-TIR

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is currently developing an end-to-end instrument which will provide a proof of concept prototype vehicle for a high data rate, multi-channel, thermal instrument in support of the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI)-Thermal Infrared (TIR) space mission. HyspIRI mission was recommended by the National Research Council Decadal Survey (DS). The HyspIRI mission includes a visible shortwave infrared (SWIR) pushboom spectrometer and a multispectral whiskbroom thermal infrared (TIR) imager. The prototype testbed instrument addressed in this effort will only support the TIR. Data from the HyspIRI mission will be used to address key science questions related to the Solid Earth and Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems focus areas of the NASA Science Mission Directorate. Current designs for the HyspIRI-TIR space borne imager utilize eight spectral bands delineated with filters. The system will have 60m ground resolution, 200mK NEDT, 0.5C absolute temperature resolution with a 5-day repeat from LEO orbit. The prototype instrument will use mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) technology at the focal plane array in time delay integration mode. A custom read out integrated circuit (ROIC) will provide the high speed readout hence high data rates needed for the 5 day repeat. The current HyspIRI requirements dictate a ground knowledge measurement of 30m, so the prototype instrument will tackle this problem with a newly developed interferometeric metrology system. This will provide an absolute measurement of the scanning mirror to an order of magnitude better than conventional optical encoders. This will minimize the reliance on ground control points hence minimizing postprocessing (e.g. geo-rectification computations).

Multi-spectral↗

NASA NTRS2011

The Prototype HyspIRI Thermal Infrared Radiometer (PHyTIR): A High Speed, Multispectral, Thermal Instrument Development in Support of HyspIRI-TIR

The Prototype HyspIRI Thermal Infrared Radiometer (PHyTIR) is being developed as part of the risk reduction activities associated with the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI). The HyspIRI mission was recommended by the National Research Council Decadal Survey and includes a visible shortwave infrared (SWIR) pushboom spectrometer and a multispectral whiskbroom thermal infrared (TIR) imager. Data from the HyspIRI mission will be used to address key science questions related to the Solid Earth and Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems focus areas of the NASA Science Mission Directorate. The HyspIRI TIR system will have 60m ground resolution, better than 200mK noise equivalent delta temperature (NEDT), 0.5C absolute temperature resolution with a 5-day repeat from LEO orbit. PHyTIR addresses the technology readiness level (TRL) of certain key subsystems of the TIR imager, primarily the detector assembly and scanning mechanism. PHyTIR will use Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) technology at the focal plane and operate in time delay integration mode. A custom read out integrated circuit (ROIC) will provide the high speed readout hence allowing the high data rates needed for the 5 day repeat. PHyTIR will also demonstrate a newly developed interferometeric metrology system. This system will provide an absolute measurement of the scanning mirror to an order of magnitude better than conventional optical encoders. This will minimize the reliance on ground control points hence minimizing post-processing (e.g. geo-rectification computations).

National Research Council Decadal Survey↗

NASA NTRS2013

Future Earth Observations

No abstract available

NASA↗

NASA NTRS2017

NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS)

EOSDIS is a data system created by NASA to manage its collection of Earth Science data. This presentation is a brief description of the data system provided to the general user community. The presentation reviews the data types, management and software development techniques in use to organize the system.

science data management↗

NASA NTRS2017

An Evolving Worldview: Making Open Source Easy

NASA Worldview is an interactive interface for browsing full-resolution, global satellite imagery. Worldview supports an open data policy so that academia, private industries and the general public can use NASA's satellite data to address Earth science related issues. Worldview was open sourced in 2014. By shifting to an open source approach, the Worldview application has evolved to better serve end-users. Project developers are able to have discussions with end-users and community developers to understand issues and develop new features. New developers are able to track upcoming features, collaborate on them and make their own contributions. Getting new developers to contribute to the project has been one of the most important and difficult aspects of open sourcing Worldview. A focus has been made on making the installation of Worldview simple to reduce the initial learning curve and make contributing code easy. One way we have addressed this is through a simplified setup process. Our setup documentation includes a set of prerequisites and a set of straight forward commands to clone, configure, install and run. This presentation will emphasis our focus to simplify and standardize Worldview's open source code so more people are able to contribute. The more people who contribute, the better the application will become over time.

open dat↗

NASA NTRS2011

Optical Component Performance for the Ocean Radiometer for Carbon Assessment (ORCA)

The Ocean Radiometer for Carbon Assessment (ORCA) is a new design for the next generation remote sensing of ocean biology and biogeochemistry. ORCA is configured to meet all the measurement requirements of the Decadal Survey Aerosol, Cloud, and Ecology (ACE), the Ocean Ecosystem (OES) radiometer and the Pro-ACE climate data continuity mission (PACE). Under the auspices of a 2007 grant from NASA Research Opportunity in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) and the Instrument Incubator Program (IIP), a team at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) has been working on a functional prototype with flight-like fore and aft optics and scan mechanisms. As part of the development efforts to bring ORCA closer to a flight configuration and in order to reduce cost, we have conducted component-level optical testing using standard spectrophotometers and system-level characterizations using non-flight commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) focal plane array detectors. Although these arrays would not be able to handle flight data rates, they are adequate for optical alignment and performance testing. The purpose of this presentation is to describe the results of this testing performed at GSFC and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the component and system level. Specifically, we show results for ORCA's spectral calibration ranging from the near UV, visible, and near-infrared spectral region.

Quijada, Manuel A.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

FUTURE LEVELS OF AEROSOLS & RADIATIVE FORCING OVER THE ARCTIC

The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) is currently assessing the impacts of Short-Lived Climate Forcers (SLCF) on Arctic climate and air quality. In support of the assessment, we used the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Sciences (GISS) Earth System Model (modelE2.1), with prescribed sea surface temperature and sea-ice fraction, to simulate SLCF concentrations globally between 1995 and 2015. Two simulations were conducted, using the One-Moment Aerosol (OMA) and the Multiconfiguration Aerosol TRacker of mIXing state (MATRIX) aerosol modules. OMA is a mass-based scheme in which aerosols are assumed to remain externally mixed and have a prescribed and constant size distribution, while MATRIX is an aerosol microphysics scheme based on the quadrature method of moments, which is able to explicitly simulate the mixing state of aerosols. Anthropogenic emissions from the ECLIPSE v6b emissions database were used, along with emissions from aircrafts and open biomass burning from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), while the natural emissions of sea salt, DMS, isoprene and dust are calculated interactively. The simulated monthly surface concentrations of sulfate (SO4), black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OA), and ozone (O3) are compared with observations from a set of Arctic stations, extracted from the EBAS and IMPROVE databases, as well as a few additional locations. Simulated aerosol optical depths (AOD) are also compared with Advanced Very-High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). The study will present the evaluation of the modelE2.1 in simulating SLCF levels over the Arctic using different aerosol schemes, along with observed and simulated trends of SLCFs over the Arctic between 1995 and 2015.

Aersosols↗

NASA NTRS2008

Disturb testing in flash memories

Non-volatile memory technology as defined by NAND architecture flash memory continues to lead the process scaling and device shrinking efforts of the entire integrated circuit industry. 45- nm technology nodes are now producing commercial 32Gb devices. These latest 32Gb devices are pioneering new charge trapping memory cell technologies using metal gates and high-k dielectric materials. These cells are called TANOS and consist of tantalum-nitride, aluminum oxide (high k material), nitride, oxide, and silicon. Such high-density memories continue to revolutionize commercial electronics in terms of new high-speed data architectures and significant reductions in overall power and weight consumption. In stark contrast, nearly all science-based interplanetary and earth-orbiting NASA spacecraft are still designing in and around mid-1980s-level non-volatile technology with 1Mb Electrically Erasable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) devices. NASA has typically shunned the use of modern flash devices because of radiation and reliability concerns due to the commercial-offthe– shelf (COTS) nature of the NAND flash technology. Given the significant potential increases in overall system capability these modern flash devices could bring to NASA missions, it is important to continue to investigate these devices. This report will investigate certain portions of the reliability performance of NAND flash devices, specifically the disturb properties. Understanding the possible limitations such new non-volatile memory technology presents to NASA is the goal of this report.

Freie, Michael↗